WINSTON-SALEM, North Carolina, June 11 (Reuters) – Curacao should not be underestimated when Germany take on the Caribbean islanders in their World Cup Group E opener on Sunday, but the four-times champions will make a winning start to the tournament, Germany defender Jonathan Tah said on Thursday.
Only a convincing win will do against Curacao with Germany eager to start the tournament strongly after shock first-round exits in 2018 and 2022.
Curacao is a self-governing part of the Netherlands, with a population of just over 150,000 and a land area of 171 square miles (443 square km). All their players are Dutch nationals as is their coach Dick Advocaat and it is the smallest country to qualify for the World Cup.
“We had a team discussion yesterday on Curacao and it is a good team with players who have been trained in the Netherlands,” Tah told a press conference. “But we are the favourites and I am confident we will win the match.”
The Germans also play Ivory Coast on June 20 and Ecuador in Group E.
“I see in the Germany team many players with a lot of quality, a lot of players at their peak and a few playing their last World Cup,” said fellow Germany defender Nico Schlotterbeck. “You have a mix that is really good. Everyone is just looking forward to it.”
The Germans will be playing in hot weather in Houston with temperatures expected around 30 degrees Celsius but the players said their focus was only on the first match. They also said they have been feeling no pressure whatsoever going into their opening game.
“There is no pressure. We are going into this with confidence and on Sunday we want to show how good we are,” Schlotterbeck said.
“There is no motivation to show everyone what we can do (after the two World Cup first-round exits,” Schlotterbeck said. “We should not be hiding from anyone. We are a top, top, top team and we have been showing the German virtues on the pitch once again after a very long time.”
“We have discipline, passion and ability to resist and if we show our German virtues then we are well placed.”
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann, editing by Ed Osmond)
